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Professor John Saunders, chairman of the Royal College of Physicians ethics committee, said:

The Royal College of Physicians does not support a change in the law on assisted dying.

It remains illegal for doctors to intentionally and deliberately terminate the life of someone who is not terminally ill.

A survey of RCP fellows and members in 2006 showed that doctors were not in favour of a change in the law to allow them to do this.A change in the law would also have severe implications for the way society views disabled people.

Lawyer Yogi Amin, from Irwin Mitchell, said it was up to Parliament to decide the next steps. He said that, "the law on this sensitive and emotive issue is very clear at present - physician-assisted suicide is unlawful."

He added:

This brave attempt at changing the law requires some real public support before the law develops in this respect.

My thoughts are with the family as what they are going through must be a terribly hard situation to deal with.

The pro-lifers argue that 'sanctity of life' as a principle should not be watered down and that to create an exemption in this case may lead to a slippery slope - opening the door to many other classes of cases seeking such an exemption.

This shines a light on the tensions that exist between judge-made law and Parliament, both of which play a key role in our country's unique constitution.

It is clear that there is still plenty to be decided on this law, but the courts have now made it clear that it is for Parliament to decide the next steps.

The second man whose right-to-die case was heard by the High Court, referred to as "Martin", 47, has responded to losing his challenge to the legal ban on assisted dying:

I feel even more angry and frustrated now having had this court tell me that I cannot receive professional help to take control of how I might end my own life. My life following my stroke is undignified, distressing and intolerable. I wish to be able to exercise the freedom which everyone else would have - to decide how to end this constant tortuous situation.